A candidate for Oneida County Executive responded to the public release of a 2017 arrest on Monday, threatening to sue local police and the district attorney, along with WIBX radio host Bill Keeler. He then followed up that announcement by unleashing a series of unsubstantiated smears against county officials and, again, Keeler.

Dave Gordon held a press conference inside Utica City Hall Monday morning, and after giving his version of the 2017 incident - in which he denied physical contact and making threats of violence - the Republican hopeful tossed around allegations of extramarital affairs, corruption and more.

Regarding the arrest, in which he faced charges of criminal mischief and harassment, Gordon explained to media that the 2017 incident was brought on by 'unexplained emotional issues' that his fiance was going through, ultimately concluding at the press briefing that she had been acting 'hormonal' because she was unknowingly pregnant at the time.

''Yes I could have probably handled things differently and hindsight is 20/20.''

''In my fiance's emotionally charged state, she called police and I was then arrested a few days later'', Gordon stated, adding the arrest occurred because he broke a cellphone during the incident. He also said he takes full responsibility for the incident but continued to underscore the alleged victim's role in causing the 'situation' in the first place.

He continued ''After a period of four days we reconciled our differences and sought a doctor to determine [her] emotional outburst.'' He says he and his partner soon learned of the pregnancy and said looking back he was ''obviously...inexperienced in how to handle this type of situation,'' referring to her 'emotional issues at the time'.

When asked directly, Godron denied that he pinned down his partner and threatened to kill her - as she had alleged in the police report obtained by WIBX.

From there, Gordon claimed that his case had been sealed and should not have been discussed by Oneida County District Attorney Scott McNamara, who did speak on the record to WIBX regarding the arrest story. Regarding how WIBX was able to obtained a copy of the arrest (which he says was sealed), Gordon said he planned legal action against either the District Attorney's Office and/or the Utica Police Department. He also called on DA Scott McNamara to resign, saying the DA lied about how the case was handled.

McNamara told WIBX the case was never prosecuted because the alleged victim in the case stopped cooperating with authorities. However, Gordon says his fiance fully cooperated and says it was the DA's office who stopped returning her calls when she tried to offer an explanation as to what happened in the alleged domestic dispute.

The one-time, one-term Oneida County legislator who ran unsuccessfully for Oneida County Clerk last fall followed up his defense with a series of accusations against incumbent County Executive Anthony Picente, Oneida County Board Chairman Gerald Fiorini and then Keeler.

When pressed by local media about any corroborating evidence to backup his claims, - including claims of extramarital affairs - Gordon refused to give specifics but used buzzwords like #MeToo, corruption and abuse of power. He said he would present his 'evidence' to the proper authorities - including the Oneida County District Attorney's Office and the New York State Attorney General's Office - then said the aforementioned entities should investigate so they could either confirm or dispel his accusations.

See video above for full audio of Gordon's defense and accusations.

Gordon is preparing a June primary against Picente for the Republican nomination for County Executive. Over the weekend, Picente was endorsed by the county GOP committee by a 94-6 margin.